The Limits to Growth+50 – Events
Here you will find an overview of some of The Limits to Growth events that happened worldwide in 2022. As a part of these, throughout 2022 the Club of Rome hosted a number of webinars with leading scientists, economists, thought leaders and youth leaders on different topics related to The Limits to Growth.
Past events
UCA: International Symposium to Celebrate 50 years of The Limits to Growth
1-2 December 2022
Clermont-Ferrand, France
Over two days The Club of Rome Co-President Sandrine Dixson-Declève joined The Limits to Growth co-authors Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers and leading thought leaders and scientists from across the globe to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Limits to Growth.
The symposium reflected on the trends the report examined and how its groundbreaking systems dynamics approach and prescient modelling have influenced the narrative and science of sustainability since 1972. The results of the report were re-examined in light of new approaches to identify how we create a new critical framework for living and thriving within the limits on Planet Earth.
The contributions of the symposium will be published in a book and two prizes will be awarded: The Donella Meadows Prize for Young Female Researcher and the Erasme Prize for Expert Researcher.
Anniversary Webinar Series: Waving threads of knowing
22 November 2022, 18:00- 19:15 CET
Online webinar
The 1960s and 70s were times of radical questioning all around the world. Among many other manifestations of that, two major works were published the same year, 1972: “The Limits to Growth”, the first Report to the Club of Rome, and “Steps to an Ecology of Mind”, an outstanding collection of essays by Gregory Bateson. The space of what was possible to inquire and imagine for the future of human societies was opening in ways that seem out of reach in present times. Market fundamentalism, the exhibition of financial, military, and technolitarian powers, as well as the comeback of regressive nostalgia signal the deep cracks in our civilisations rather than our creativity.
At the same time, both the Club of Rome and the Batesonian school of thought are living in a moment of renewal in thinking and action. And there might be good reasons for them to be fellow travelers in the journey of exploration toward more desirable futures. This webinar brought to the fore that intuition and invited a warm and open conversation to weave together many threads of knowledge and of knowing, and to prepare for change.
Speakers included Vice-president of The Club of Rome Carlos Alvarez-Pereira, and Club of Rome members, Program director for the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan, Julia Kim, and president of The International Bateson Institute, Nora Bateson.
Watch the webinar here
Club of Rome Salon – 50 years of “Limits to Growth”
Lessons learned, implications, and opportunities for transformation.
Monday, Nov 21, 2022, 7:00 PM CET
The 50th Anniversary of ‘The Limits to Growth’
Last November 21, the 50th anniversary of “The Limits to Growth”, paid tribute to the world-famous 1972 study conducted by the Club of Rome, as part of an event co-hosted by the German Association Club of Rome and Arts & Nature Social Club at AXICA in Berlin. The celebration, attended by 170 guests from business, civil society and politics, welcomed Prof. Dennis Meadows (co-author of the study), Saori Dubourg (member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF), Dr. Patrick Graichen (State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action), Souâd Benkredda (Member of the Board of Managing Directors, DZ BANK A) and Dr. Frank Niederländer (Member of the Board, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt & Bundesinitiative Impact Investing).
The program curated and moderated by Joerg Geier (Associate Member of the Club of Rome and Program Chair of the Arts & Nature Social Club) returned to the 1972 study that challenged the paradigm of infinite economic growth. The event also gave rise to questioning the validity and sustainability of the study findings nowadays, and focused on the lessons learnt during the last 50 years, that could be applied to the public and private sectors in order to improve our lives.
Susanne Gmelch & Band graced the event with musical accompaniment.
Watch the full video of the event here:
50th Anniversary of ‘The Limits to Growth’ Seminar Series
Every Monday from 31 October 2022- 12 December 2022 4pm GMT
In-person: David Attenborough Building at the University of Cambridge
Zoom link available: Register here
More information here
The 50th Anniversary of ‘The Limits to Growth’ Seminar Series, was hosted by the Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the Club of Rome, Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, and the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University.
The series brought together six Club of Rome leaders and co-authors of the two latest books, ‘Limits and Beyond: 50 years on from The Limits to Growth, what did we learn and what’s next?’ (May 2022) and ‘Earth for All: A Survival Guide for Humanity’ (November 2022).
- Jorgen Randers, original co-author of Limits to Growth will speak on 31st October 2022 – 16:30 to 18:00 GMT. Title of Seminar From “The Limits to Growth” to “Earth for All” – the long global perspective
- Gaya Herrington, co-author of Earth4all: A survival guide for Humanity will speak on 7th November 2022 – 16:30 to 18:00 GMT. Title of Seminar “I did a data comparison on the world model that predicted collapse. Here’s what I found”
- Julia Kim, co-author of Limits and Beyond will speak on 14th November 2022 – 16:30 to 18:00 GMT. Title of Seminar “Beyond GDP, Beyond Numbers: Bhutan’s Journey Towards Gross National Happiness”
- Ugo Bardi, co-author of Limits and Beyond will speak on 21st November 2022 – 16:30 to 18:00 GMT. Title of Seminar “The Limits to Growth 50 years later. The role of models in studying the future”
- Mamphela Ramphele, co-author of Limits and Beyond will speak on 28th November 2022 – 11:30 to 13:00 GMT. Title of Seminar Limits to Growth or Limits and Beyond?
- Roberto Pasqualino, Co-Author of ‘Resources, Financial Risk and the Dynamics of Growth: Systems and Global Society will speak on 5th December 2022- 16:30-18:00 GMT. Title of Seminar From World3 to modelling financial implications of global energy crisis
- Jayati Ghosh, co-author of Earth4all: A survival guide for Humanity will speak on 12th December 2022 – 16:30 to 18:00 GMT. Title of Seminar “A just green transformation for the developing world: What Earth4All means for most of the world’s people.”
10 October 2022
Federal Environment Ministry, Berlin
The aim of the conference was to embed the abstract discussion based on economic indicators and global planetary boundaries in an everyday context and to make it more concrete. Special attention was paid to the contribution of individual accounting tools for the concretization of sustainable lifestyles.
Speaker included Professor Johan Rockström (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), and Mamphela Ramphele (Co-President of the Club of Rome), Mathis Wackernagel (Global Footprint Network)
50th anniversary of the Club of Rome: “Limits to Growth” report celebration and Donella Meadows memorial speech
28 September 2022, Middlebury College, Vermont
Register here to attend live Zoom webinar
For more information about the event click here
The Middlebury community gathered to reflect on Donella Meadows legacy and, in light of a recently released 50th anniversary report, examined how we will adapt and find solutions to climate change.
Speakers included Club of Rome Co-president and Earth for All author Sandrine Dixson-Declève, and Bill McKibben founder of Third Act for an evening focused on solutions to the climate crises.
Beyond Limits: Systems Thinking for 21st Century Challenges. Commemorating the work of Donella Meadows and the 50th Anniversary of Limits to Growth
27 September 2022 5:00 PM
Venue: 006 Steele Hall, Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 0375
You can follow online here
More information on the event click here
Department of Environmental Studies, the Office of Sustainability, the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy & Society, and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding commemorated the work of Donella Meadows and the 50th Anniversary of Limits to Growth with Club of Rome co-president Sandrine Dixson-Declève giving a special lecture.
Where are the limits?
22 September 2022, 13:00-15:00
TIEDEKULMA, HELSINKI (in person and online)
This year marks 50 years since the publication of the report Limits to Growth. Published by the Club of Rome in 1972, the report is acknowledged as one of the key inspirations of the modern environmental movement. The report’s key message is that economic and population growth cannot continue at the same pace without serious environmental problems and societal collapses in this century. Despite the warnings, harmful developments to the environment and societies have continued globally. To celebrate the report’s 50th anniversary, the key author of the report, professor emeritus Jorgen Randers, spoke in this event.
International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD)
World Conference on Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development
19-22 September 2022, Belgrade, Serbia
In the Special Session of the Conference, Carlos Álvarez Pereira, Vice-President, Ugo Bardi, Full Member, and Nebojša Nešković, President of the Serbian Chapter of the Club of Rome, talked about Limits and Beyond. C. Álvarez Pereira also spoke in Session 1.1, on the 50th anniversary of The Limits to Growth, and U. Bardi in Session 7.1. on a 100% renewable society. N. Nešković also talked in Session 1.1, on the New TESLA Project. In Session 7.1, Jinfeng Zhou, Full Member of the Club, spoke about the wise use of science to promote biodiversity conservation and ecological civilization. Finally, Aleksander Zidanšek, President of the Slovenian Association of the Club, talked in Session 8.2 about systematic competence development for sustainability. The agenda of the Conference is given here. The sessions of the event were also follown online – the link was https://www.sanu.ac.rs/direktan-prenos.
The Limits to Growth 50 Years On: Where Do We Stand Today and What Can We Learn for Current Policies?
30 August 2022, 14:00 -19:30 pm
Venue: Wasserturm at EUREF-Campus, EUREF-Campus 18, 10829 Berlin, and via Zoom
The symposium organised by the Forum New Economy in cooperation with the Club of Rome and SPERI aims at overcoming these divides in the ‘limits to growth’ debate. The symposium will examine the impact the Limits to Growth report has had and whether its message has been contradicted by reality as often argued, the empirical data we have on the compatibility of economic growth and environmental sustainability, discuss whether new approaches beyond the old fundamental question could serve as a bridge between the camps, and dig deeper into the question what the post-growth concept would mean for public budgets or innovation in the economy.
Speakers inclued The Club of Rome co-president Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, original author of Limits to Growth Jorgen Randers, and Club of Rome member Tim Jackson.
Will the world end its addiction to growth? With the Club of Rome on the 50th anniversary of the Club of Rome’s warning there’s little sign the world has taken notice.
24 June 2022
The New Statesman‘s environment editor, Philippa Nuttall was joined in Brussels by Kate Raworth, the economist who created the concept of “Doughnut Economics”; Tim Jackson, a British economist from the University of Surrey; and Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome.
The BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt promoted responsible leadership and inspired leaders worldwide to work towards a more peaceful, just and sustainable future. The Club of Rome co-president Sandrine Dixson. Declève is a member of the global BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network.
Limits to Growth at 50: Where Do We Go from Here? Jeremy Lent in conversation with Club of Rome executives Mamphela Ramphele and Carlos Álvarez Pereira
21 June 2022 at 9:00 am PDT/6:00 pm CEST (75 minutes)
Register for the event here
In this Deep Transformation Network Live Interactive Conversation, Jeremy explored with Club of Rome co-President Mamphela Ramphele and vice-president Carlos Álvarez Pereira what has been learned from the experiences of the past five decades. We discussed why the dominant global system maintained its devastating trajectory despite this early warning, and how we can use the lessons of the past to inform effective strategies to intervene and redirect our civilization’s headlong rush to the precipice.
Listen here
Commemorating the life of Aurelio Peccei
17 June 202, 17:30-20:00 CET
In-person: MAXXI Museum, Via Guido ReniRome, Italy
Live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_RD23L3Gk
Organizers: Club of Rome and Partners (AsVis, The Aurelio Peccei Foundation, Regenerative Society Foundation, Enel Foundation)
This event commemorated the life of Aurelio Peccei. Opening remarks by MAXXI Museum President, Giovanna Melandri, and Club of Rome co-president Sandrine Dixson-Decleve.
Watch the event:
Business for good leaders summit. Enlightened leadership: Navigating the human predicament in the 21st century.
17 June 2022, 14:00-16:30 CET
In-person: Giuseppe Sinpoli Hall, Auditorium Parco della Musica. Rome, Italy
Taking place in the context of the 50th anniversary of the Limits to Growth, this event convened leaders and futurists from governments, business, philanthropy, faith, new economic thinking, alongside innovators, financiers, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, and youth to accelerate action for new systems thinking and regenerative transformation. It co-created a narrative that can help guide the creation of a more inclusive, sustainable, resilient and regenerative vision for our collective future as the leaders think through long-term challenges and opportunities at this important milestone of the Limits to Growth.
Watch event:
National Environment Day 2022
14 June 2022, 09:00-17:00 CET Antropia, Driebergen, Netherlands
“Limits to growth”, the report of the Club of Rome, appeared in 1972. In 2022 this was exactly fifty years ago. The alarming report signaled the start worldwide to put environmental policy higher on the agenda and made it reach the public consciousness.
The VVM (network of environmental professionals), together with Club of Rome NL and the Youth Environment Council, seized this golden jubilee during National Environment Day in June 2022 to reflect on what has been achieved since then and, above all, what has not: what are the challenges for the next fifty years?
50th Anniversary of The Limits to Growth –
What has the EU learned & where do we go from here?
14 June 2022, 15:00-17:00 Brussels, Belgium (in person and virtually).
2022 marked the 50th anniversary of “The Limits to Growth” a groundbreaking report from the Club of Rome. It emphasised the need for rethinking growth on a finite planet and for greater systems thinking and non linear economic models. This event contributed to growing thinking within the EU institutions and across Member States on how to shift to a wellbeing economy in times of crisis through policy implementation at the EU and Member State levels.
As a next step, interested members of the audience were invited to a follow-up session to learn how the international initiative, Earth4All, could support them.
Volkswagen Foundation: 50 Years The Limits to Growth
8 June 2022, 7pm CET, Xplanatorium Schloss Herrenhausen, Herrenhäuser Straße 5, 30419 Hannover (in person).
Hybid (Link available in German)
This event organised by the Volkswagen Foundation took this opportunity to discuss how scientifically proven findings of the last 50 years make it clear that humanity must act to mitigate climate change, the factors that affect it and its consequences so that it remains viable.
Why are political decisions, changes in values in society and behavioral changes of each individual so difficult against the background of the impending catastrophe? What role do politics play, which of civil society, which of science, in order to achieve the transformation towards a socially and ecologically just world?
Panel discussion with
Noura Hammouda, member of the Federal Executive Board, BUNDJugend
Prof. Dr. Mojib Latif, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel and President, German Society CLUB OF ROME
Prof. Dr. Patrizia Nanz, among others Professor of Transformative Sustainability Studies, University of Potsdam and Co-Chairman of the Science Platform Sustainability 2030
Prof. Dr. Harald Welzer, Director, Norbert Elias Center for Transformation Design & Research, European University Flensburg, and Co-founder and Director, Stiftung Futurzwei. Foundation for Sustainability
Moderation: Ulrike Heckmann
Earth4All – an upgrade to our operating system
2-3 June 2022 at Stockholm+50
In 1972 the United Nations held the first conference on the global environment in Stockholm. This was the first Earth Summit. Last year, in 2022, the United Nations hosted a major event to mark this anniversary. Stockholm+50 came at a transformative moment for societies.
Earth4All published a policy brief at the Stockholm+50, and a major report in September. The report focused on transformational economics and the five essential policy turnarounds to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals within Planetary Boundaries and how to create prosperity for all. Earth4All was initiated by The Club of Rome, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Norwegian Business School. It builds on the legacies of The Limits to Growth and the Planetary Boundaries frameworks.
The Limits to Growth +50 celebration event
27 May 2022, 13:00 – 17:00 (EST), Sonesta Select Hotel, Woburn, Boston
This event organised by the US and Canadian Associations for the Club of Rome was held to honour The Limits to Growth lead author, Donella Meadows. It included reflections by Club of Rome Co-President Mamphela Ramphela, The Limits to Growth original author is Dennis Meadows and youth voices. This was followed by an overview of the Wellbeing of the earth, its ecosystems, and its peoples project by Club of Rome members Anitra Thorhaug, Edward Manning, John Gilmour, Julia Kim and Herbert Girardet .
The fifty years of “The limits to growth”
26 May 2022, 18:30 CET Oriol Bohigas Performance Hall Barcelona,
“The Limits to Growth” is the famous report on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by the Club of Rome and published in 1972, shortly after the first oil crisis. The main author of that interdisciplinary study, using a computer model in which 17 professionals collaborated, was the biophysicist Donella H. Meadows, together with Dennis Meadows
Club of Rome Vice-President Carlos Pereira-Alvarez presented.
DAVOS Earth4All: A Survival Guide for Humanity
24 May 2022, 10:00-11:30 CET Goals House, Mattastrasse 25, 720 Davos
Within a single generation, the world can achieve prosperity for all within planetary boundaries. What will it take? Economic systems change.
Professor Johan Rockström (Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) and Sandrine Dixson-Declève (Co-President of the Club of Rome) joined for a roundtable session discussing the drivers for systems change and the economic priorities for healthy lives on a healthy planet.
Event supported by the BMW Foundation and Avanade
BI Green Growth Conference
19 May 2022, 09:00-15:30, Place:BI Campus Oslo, auditorium A1-030
In-person and streaming available : Online registration
BI, DNV, UiO:Energi and MIT Norway had the pleasure to be invited to this year’s green growth conference where we looked at what we have learned from 50 years of sustainability research and where we should go from here.
The day started with viewing the future in light of the past, what we have learned in the 50 years since the publication of the Limits to Growth, and what conclusions we should draw for the future. Speakers included Club of Rome co-president, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, and original co-author of The Limits to Growth Jorgen Randers.
Limits and Beyond: 50 years on from The Limits to Growth, what did we learn and what’s next?
Book launch.
10 May 2022, 14:30-18:30, Palazzo Marino- P.zza della Scala, 2-Milan, Italy
In-person and online stream available (The first half of the launch was in English)
Bringing together input from over 15 Club of Rome members from all continents, this book dissects the original messages of The Limits to Growth, contemporary reactions to it, and its relevance today.
Revisiting the original conclusions from The Limits to Growth, alongside the questions it was trying to address, the authors looked at what has happened over the last 50 years including scientific developments and the emergence of wellbeing economics. Crucially, the book discusses how we can better understand our situation and plan ahead, and the cultural changes needed while bringing in multiple worldviews.
Watch this event
Global forum Eco-innovation and Circular Economy
22 April 2022, 9:00-17:30 (Taipei Standard Time)
Hybrid event: Online and in-person at the Feng Chia University, Taiwan.
The Circular Economy Summit Forum discussed systematic solutions, presented the best examples, and used this opportunity to invite the original author of “The Limits of Growth” and members of the Club of Rome to look forward to the future of mankind!
Speakers included Club of Rome Co-president Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Jorgen Randers Co-author of The Limits to Growth report, Ernst von Weizsaecker former Club of Rome co-president and Yi-Heng Cheng member of the Club of Rome. They talked about environmental protection, ecological conservation, technology experts, academia, politics and economics, and philanthropy to jointly organise ecological innovation and philanthropy.
Anniversary webinar series: Limits and Beyond
20 April 2022, 15:00-16:30 CET
All speakers in this webinar were co-authors of the book Limits and Beyond, launched in May 2022. They were invited to share their reflections on the relevance of the seminal report The Limits to Growth for the world of today and tomorrow. They looked back five decades later, questioning on what the book meant at the time, what happened next, what we did and not, what we learnt and not, and what happens now and will, in the future.
Speakers were: Club of Rome Co-president, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, the founder and CEO of Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), Chandran Nair, Program Director for the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan, Dr Julia Kim, Professor in Physical Chemistry at the University of Florence, Professor Ugo Bardi and Vice President ESG Research at Schneider Electric, Gaya Herrington. Hosted by Club of Rome Vice president, Carlos Ávarez Pereira.
This event was the second in a series of webinars reflecting on the Limits to Growth and brought forward solutions for change.
Bergen Climate Festival
9 March 2022 Bergen, Norway
Club of Rome member and author of The Limits to Growth, Jorgen Randers, joined this Norwegian event celebrating 50 years of the publication.
UNEP@50 Nairobi Conference: Meeting the 2030 Agenda Within the Planetary Boundaries – A Celebration of UNEP’s 50th Anniversary
3 March 2022 15:00-16:30 (CET)
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This side event was organised by the 2022 Initiative Foundation with the support of the Club of Rome and its Earth4All project partners, in the context of the UNEA 5.2 and UNEP@50 conference in Nairobi, Kenya. This hybrid event took place in the Green Room at UNEP and online on 3 March at 15:00h CET. This event was part of a series of events that marked the launch of the seminal Earth4All report during the Limits to Growth 50+ and Stockholm+50 Anniversary year.
During the 90-mins event, a hybrid expert panel with Jørgen Randers, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Janez Potočnik and Jane Kabubo-Mariara shared preliminary research findings for the 5 transformation pathways identified by Earth4All and brought the audience up to speed on where the science is 50 years after the publication of the first Limits to Growth report and the formation of UNEP. The conversation focused on raising ambition and accelerating change: How can we accelerate systems change for an equitable, sustainable, and resilient future on a finite planet? To close, 2022 Initiative Foundation facilitated a dialogue with the audience (in room and virtual). Participants were divided into breakout rooms and invited to co-create visions and actions based on the findings presented by the speakers. Initiatives, ideas and commitments on how to raise ambition and accelerate action on the five turnarounds were recorded for monitoring in the months leading up to the Stockholm+50 conference. Stockholm+50 Ambassador Lissinger Peitz provided closing reflections.
The Limits to Growth + 50: Global equity for a healthy planet
Anniversary Webinar Series: Living within Limits
2 March 2022 15:00-16:30 (CET)
50 years ago the Club of Rome sounded the alarm.
The Limits to Growth – a report to The Club of Rome – was published on 2 March 1972. This report was the first to model our planet’s interconnected systems and make clear that if growth trends in population, industrialisation, resource use and pollution continued unchanged, we would reach and then overshoot the carrying capacity of the Earth at some point in the next one hundred years.
Unfortunately, policymakers hit the snooze button, and we are now reaching the limit – crossing tipping points – and overloading our planet. Participants joined the original author Dennis Meadows, leading economist Jayati Ghosh, climate activist Luisa Neubauer, and eminent scientist Johan Rockstrom as they reflected on 50 years since the report’s publication and focused on how lessons from The Limits to Growth and systems knowledge can be applied to the current planetary emergency.
This event was the first in a series of webinars reflecting on the Limits to Growth and bringing forward solutions for change.
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Approaching the Limits to Growth
1 March 2022 17:00 (CET). Online
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The Hungarian Economic Association (HEA) organised an online conference to mark the 50th anniversary of The Limits to Growth. Sandrine Dixson-Decléve, Co-President of the Club of Rome, Dennis Meadows, original author of The Limits to Growth and Professor Ervin László, President of the Budapest Club, welcomed policy-makers and science and thought leaders from Hungary’s government, civil society and private sector to mark the continuing impact of this groundbreaking report.
